If you’re new to email marketing, all the acronyms and buzzwords that are used can be pretty overwhelming and leave you confused.
So today, I’ve created an email marketing glossary that goes over some of the most common phrases used in the email marketing space and I’ll be breaking down what each one means so you can fully understand.
Let’s get started…
Email Marekting Glossary:
1. A/B testing:
A/B testing, (Which is also sometimes known as split testing) is a method where you compare two versions of something to determine which performs better.
In email marketing, A/B testing typically refers to sending two different versions of an email campaign and measuring which one gets better results.
Things you can split test can be things like the subject line, the sender name, and the contents of the email.
But this largely depends on the email software you use because not all of them allow in-depth split testing.
2. Bounce rate :
In simple terms – A bounce rate in email marketing refers to the percentage of emails that are returned or “bounce back” due to invalid or unavailable email addresses.
There are two types of bounce-backs.
Hard bonce – this is when the email server has not delivered the email to the recipient.
This can be because the email is invalid, the email has blocked receiving mail, or the domain no longer exists.
Soft bounce – The recipient’s mail server has accepted the email, but still has bounced back to the sender.
This can be because the mailbox is too full or the email contents are too large.
3. Call-to-action (CTA):
This is what you use to get the reader to achieve the required action.
For example, the call to action in one of my emails would be something like – “click here to find out more about my email marketing services.
So, as you can see, I’m calling them to do a specific action.
This is known as a CTA.
Here’s an example of an effective CTA –
4. Click-through rate (CTR):
Very simple – this is the percentage of people who click on a specific link in an email.
So, if you have an email with a link, an email gets opened by 10k people, and 1,000 people click on the link, you’ll have a 10% Click-through rate.
5. Conversion rate:
In my opinion, the conversion rate is one of, if not the most important metrics to follow in your email marketing efforts.
Conversion rate is the percentage of email subscribers that complete a desired action after receiving or opening an email.
So, this could be making a sale, booking calls, or getting sign-ups to a webinar, and the reason I believe this is the most important aspect is because it doesn’t matter how good your open rate is, or your click-through rate if you’re not getting conversions, all of this is pointless.
6. Deliverability:
Email deliverability refers to the likelihood that an email campaign will arrive in the recipient’s inboxes.
There are a tonne of variables that go into how good your deliverability is. And if you want to learn more about that, then you can click here to check out some of my other resources on email deliverability.
7. Dmarc record & SPF records:
Now we’re getting into the more complicated areas of email.
Now this is not directly related to email marketing, it is closely connected to email deliverability, and it’s important to know about this stuff.
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) and SPF (Sender Policy Framework) are email authentication protocols that work together to prevent the unauthorized use of domains when people send emails.
This is because it’s common for people to use email campaigns for phishing attacks.
But implementing DMARC and SPF helps improve email deliverability and inbox placement by confirming to recipients’ email providers that emails did in fact come from the domain specified.
If you want to look at some resources to see if yours are set up correctly, then click here.
8. Email Blast:
There are a few different names for this, email blast, broadcast email, email campaign…
…Whatever you call it, it’s the same thing. But simply, it’s this –
When you send out a one-off email to your entire list. Simple.
And if you want to learn more about what kind of emails you can send to your list, you can click here.
9. Email Automation:
Email automations is a must for all email marketing setups.
This is what they are:
When you create an email to be sent out when a specific vacation is achieved by one of your email subscribers.
For example, one of the most common email automations is a welcome sequence. So, if someone signs up to your email list, they’ll then receive a series of pre-written emails.
10. Email launches:
Email launches are specifically used when you want to sell something for a specific period of time.
So, you may have a flagship product you only open 4 times a year for example, and you may create a series of emails to be sent out to promote this one product.
During these launches, you may send more emails than usual in order to maximize revenue.
But if you want a breakdown of how I’ve been able to successfully use email launches for my clients, then you can click here.
11. List Hygiene
List hygiene is the necessary steps you must take to make sure your email list is as active, and effective as possible.
So some hygiene practices that you must look to do would be things like:
- Regularly cleaning your email list of dead subscribers.
- Segmenting your email list effectively so each subscriber is getting the best experience.
- Regularly mailing your list with high-quality emails.
But if this is something you want to learn more about, then you can click here.
12. Open rate:
Open rate is one of the key metrics used to measure the performance of email campaigns.
It measures the percentage of email recipients who opened the email message out of the total number of successfully delivered emails for that campaign.
For example, if an email was sent to 1,000 subscribers and 500 of them opened the email, the open rate would be 50% (500 opens/1,000 delivered emails).
Obviously, the higher the open rate, the better.
But if the open rate is falling into single digits (less than 10%), you could be falling into spam territory.
13. Personalization
An easy one to understand – this is when you personalize your emails so they’re specific to each recipient.
How this is done is when you collect your email subscribers’ information you’ll usually collect things like their first name and second name.
An easy way to personalize your emails is to use features inside your email software that allow you to use %FIRSTNAME%.
When you send out an email with specific personalization (it’s different for each email software), it’ll populate with your user information, making it look a lot more personal.
14. Spam:
Spam refers to irrelevant, unsolicited messages sent in bulk over email.
But over time, when you build up your email list, there are certain things you must do to avoid spam traps and filters.
Some of these things include:
- Mailing your list regularly.
- Avoid spammy words/phrases and symbols like “Make Money Now!” or symbols like “$, £, ?!” etc.
- And actually sending good emails that people want to read.
15. Subject line:
The subject line is one of the most important parts of any email campaign, yet often one of the hardest to perfect.
Subject lines appear as preview text in the recipient’s inbox, and this is usually the key influence on whether your target audience actually opens the email with interest or ignores it.
An effective subject line piques curiosity about the content itself, conveys the tone of the messaging, and compels engagement.
So, next time you create a subject line, think to yourself, what would your recipient open if they’re getting flooded with emails every day, of every hour like the below:
16. Squeeze Page
Now, this has many different names.
Squeeze page.
Landing page.
Opt-in page.
But the only thing you need to know is that they all mean the same thing.
The purpose is to encourage visitors to subscribe to an email list.
The goal is to “squeeze” as many email signups as possible from the traffic you receive to that page.
An effective squeeze page clearly communicates what the email list is about, and the value readers will gain, and has an inviting call-to-action prompting visitors to input their email or submit a signup form.
Here’s an example of one –
17. Segmentation:
Segmentation refers to the practice of dividing an email subscriber list into distinct groups or segments based on specific criteria.
Then tailoring emails and campaigns to match the preferences and attributes of each group.
This contrasts with sending the same non-targeted email blasts to all subscribers without personalization and can sometimes harm deliverability.
If you want a quick breakdown of how I was able to improve a client open rates from 8% opens to the high 20s, then click here.
18. Unsubscribe rate:
An unsubscribe rate is a metric in email marketing that monitors the overall audience engagement and satisfaction with their email campaigns.
Showing you the percentage of email subscribers who opt out by unsubscribing from the mailing list over a given timeframe.
Conclusion
And that’s it.
If you have any questions, let me know by leaving a comment below, emailing me at Jamie@EmailMaximalist.com, or send me a DM on X (Twitter) @EmailMaximalist.
